Wells English
Herbert George Wells
1866~1946. A British novelist. He is called ‘the father of science fiction’ and wrote many pioneering science fictions such as The Time Machine(1896）, The Invisible Man(1897), and others. In the latter part of his career, he wrote non-science fiction such as Tono-Bungay(1909）. As a social reformer, he made a lot of remarks. He was a member of the Fabian Society. He also made remarks as a pacifist and is said to have created the prototype of the Charter of the United Nations.
Wells was one of Lee’s close friends. The friendship began when Lee sent a letter praising Wells’ novels to him. Lee respected Wells’ profound knowledge on science and they had a lot in common. They continued to exchange letters and presented books each other. Lee called Wells "My dear fellow Utopian" and called herself 'Sister in Utopia’ and 'Mr. Wells and I are fraternally united." ('A Postscript about Mr. Wells')
Vernon Lee had a strong interest in Wells’ A Modern Utopia(1906) and wrote two essays concerning it: 'On Modern Utopias: An Open Letter to H.G. Wells' and 'A Postscript About Mr. Wells,' both of which are included in Gospels of Anarchy. In A Modern Utopia, the ideal society ruled by the aristocrats called samurai is described. 'On Modern Utopias' has the form of letters to Wells where Lee, while estimating Wells’ works to some extent, analyzed negatively his optimistic attitude towards the progress of science. She estimated most Kipps among Wells’ works. According to Lee, human beings have no time to consider the future, devoting themselves to the present. And she wrote: "The metaphysics of your worship of the Future are, I venture to say, wrong, as wrong as those of any other priest preaching of any other Kingdom of Heaven." Against Wells’ worship for the future, Lee wrote: "I return to my worship of the Present."
The world in A Modern Utopia, perfect equality between men and women is achieved. Wells created another novel of feminism Ann Veronica(1909). From these works, it is possible to imagine that Wells was a feminist, but at the same time it is well-known that he had a lot of lovers. Lee wrote letters criticizing Wells’ relationships with women to Wells himself, but nevertheless, she didn’t stop associated with him. Lee’s idea on Wells is praise and criticism mixed. Wells accepted this idea of hers and their friendship continued until the First World War.
Lee’s collection of essays Gospels of Anarchy was dedicated to Wells.
